Soap container and dispenser



P 1939-- J. w. BROOKSHIER, 1 2,172,862

SOAP CONTAINER AND DISPENSER Filed July 10, 1937 J. WARREN BROOKS/HER IN VEN TOR.

TTORNEY Patented Sept. 12, 1939 UNITED sTArEs PATENT OFFICE Claims.

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in soap containers and dispensers, and has for its primary object to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, a device of 5' this character embodying a novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts thru the medium of which a person, when bathing or simply washing the hands or dishes, can quickly obtain a bar of soap from the invention, which,

by the way, is mountable on a wall, and quickly replace the bar of soap therein, without inconvenience and without having the usual wet and unsightly soap dish or rack apparent or in the way.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a novel construction and arrangement for such means for gripping, retaining andre leasing a bar of soap as may be conveniently actuated by the operator of the device.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a device of the aforementioned character which will be simple in construction, strong, durable, neat and attractive, and which may be manufactured at a low cost.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein like characters of reference 30 designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, one face being removed, showing a soap container and dispenser in accordance with the present invention in use,

35. holding a bar of soap,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken transversely of Fig. 1, the bar of soap beingshown in dotted line,

Fig. 3 is an elevational view similar to Fig. 1,

40 but showing the mechanism of the device in position to dispense a bar of soap as well as to grasp the soap from the hand of the operator, as in replacing the soap in the device,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing 4;; one of the springlatch members.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view taken from the rear of the invention, showing one type of means for attaching it to a wall.

' Reference to the drawing will reveal that the to reference numeral Ill designates a substantially rectangular cabinet, which, for convenience of description, shall be hereinafter referred to as a housing.

The bottom face of the housing H3 is formed to 55, slope inwardly as at H, toward a rectangularly shaped opening l2, which is flanked on its opposing sides by the upwardly extending pairs of guide members |2-A and |2--B which serve to guide the bar of soap into proper position in the act of inserting it in the improved container, as 5 well as protecting said soap from contact with the otherwise rather sharp edges of said opening l2. In one side of the housing is a longitudinal slot !3 through which extends a handle l4 mounted on the lower end of the vertically disposed por- 10 tion iii-A of the right-angularly shaped slide bar l5 whose horizontally disposed portion l 5-B fixedly engages the lower extremity of the telescopic member 16 as at lB-X, said telescopic member IS adapted for telescopic engagement 16 with the tube member I! which may of course be soldered or otherwise suitably secured to the upper portion of the housing I 0 as at ll-X, to form a telescopic stem.

A relatively small yoke member i8 is aflixed 20 by solder or other suitable means adjacent the upper end of the horizontally disposed portion |5--B of said slide bar l5 for the purpose of carrying the tong members l9 and 20 by means of a bolt member 2| engaging a pair of oppositely disposed thru holes on said yoke l8 and corresponding thru holes in the intermediate portion of said tong members l9 and 20, as at A.

The upper extremities of said tong members I9 and 20 have the thru holes 22 which engage one end of the springs 23, which in turn engage at their upper ends the eyelets 24 secured to the upper portion of the housing in by soldering or other suitable means.

The springs 23' are stretched somewhat between said eyelets 24.-and said thru holes 22 in the upper extremities of said tong members l9 and 20', thereby maintaining'a constant upward pull thereon to cause the points 25 of said tong members to be constantly drawn together to ef- 40 feet the constant gripping action of said points 25 against opposite sides of a bar of soap within the improved device.

A spreader member 26 is adapted to engage conjointly the pivotal pin |9--A carried by the tong member l9 and the stop pin 2ll-A carried by tong member 20.

When a bar of soap 2'! is in place in this improved soap container and dispenser as shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 2 in the drawing, the points 25 acting under pressure as hereinbefore explained, will be slightly imbedded in opposite sides of said soap 21, which action obviously holds the soap firmly in the device and in a position entirely concealed from outward view.

When it is desired to dispense the soap for use, a finger of the operator is pressed downwardly on the handle I 4 carried by the slide bar I5, thus moving downwardly within the tube member I! the telescopic member I 6, the lower end of which, as explained before, is fixedly engaged by the horizontally disposed member I5-B of said slide bar [5. This action propels downwardly the tong members l9 and 20 carried by the yoke member I8, to contact a pair of fixed oppositely disposed spring latch members 28 having the substantially right-angularly disposed latch fingers 29 adapted to engage the notches 30 adjacent the lower extremity of said tong members l9 and 20 to spread said tong members as shown particularly'in Fig. 3 in the drawing, thereby causing the points 25 of the tong members to be withdrawn from contact with the bar of soap 21, which is then released for use.

The construction and arrangement of parts in said latch number 28 is shown particularly in Fig. 4. It will of course be obvious that the leaf member 28-A of said latch member 28 can be soldered or otherwise suitably secured to the sides of the housing In. The stop finger 28B formed in said leaf member 28A is adapted to stop the upward movement of said latch member 28 which is normally maintained in an upwardly pressed position by the coil spring 28C having one terminal 28--D soldered to said leaf member 28A, and the other terminal 28-E soldered to said latch member 28. Said latch member 28, leaf member 28--A and spring member 28C are hingedly associated by means of the hinge pin 28-F.

As the tong members l9 and 20 are spread as shown in Fig. 3, the stop pin 20A on said tong 26 is carried outwardly in slidable engagement with the horizontally disposed slot 28A, which terminates in the vertically disposed upwardly extending notch 26'B until said notch 26B drops over said stop pin 20A as shown in Fig. 3 for the purpose of holding in spread relation to each other the points 25 of said tong members l9 and 2!].

It will appear obvious to those skilled in the art that when the tong members are held in spread relation to each other as shown in Fig. 3 in the drawing, the opposite outerextremities of said tong members are spread to. such a width as to contact the hinged portion Q of the oppositely disposed latch members 28 and are thus prevented from being drawn upwardly by the pulling action of the springs 23-until the spreader member 26 is released as hereinafter more fully explained, thus permitting said tong members to pass said hinged portion Q of the latch members 28 and be drawn upwardly within the housing l0.

When it is desired to replace the bar of soap in this improved soap container and dispenser, said soap is taken in the hand of the operator and inserted upwardly thru the opening [2 in the bottom of the housing l8, where a slight contact between the soap and the lower intermediate portion of said spreader member 25 will cause one end of said spreader member to pivot on said pivotal pin [El-A, and the other end thereof to rise upwardly until said notch 2EB is released from engagement with said stop pin 20-A, thereby releasing the points 25 of said tong members l9 and 28 from spread relation to each other, thus enabling said points 25 carried thereon to move inwardly to contact opposite sides of the bar of soap and at the same time cause said soap to be drawn sharply into the device by means of the upwardly pulling action of the spring members 23. The stop brace 26-0 serves to keep points 25 from contact with each other after the soap is dispensed, by limiting the inward movement of the lower ends of said tong members.

It will also be obvious that the notches 30 adjacent the lower ends of said tongs I9 and 20 serve cojointly with said latch fingers 29 as a spreading means only, and have nothing to do with preventing the upward movement of said tong members i9 and 20 when engaged by said spreader member 26 as shown in Fig. 3.

I desire it to be understood that any suitable and simple installing means may be employed for my invention, and although I show but one form of installing means comprised in the key hole X shown in the upper portion of the rear of the device and the screw hole Z shown in the lower portion thereof as indicated in Fig. 5 in the drawing I make no claim to this means for hanging the device.

It will be understood that certain modifications may be made in the details of construction as above set forth and shown inthe drawing without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A soap container and dispenser comprising in combination an elongated vertically disposed housing closed at its upper end and having a relatively large opening in its lower end and a slot in one side extending upwardly from the lower end and'terminating some distance therefrom, a tubular member depending from the upper end of said housing, a tong supporting stem telescopically mounted in said-tubular member, a handle member secured to the lower end of said stem and projecting outwardly through said slot and normally engaging the upper end thereof to limit the upward movement of said telescopic stem, a pair of tong members pivotally connected to said stem, said tong members having their lower ends pointedand projecting inwardly toward each other, and their upper ends projecting outwardly and engaged by spring means carried by said housing tending to hold said members in normally closed position, means carried by said housing to force said tong members to open position upon downward movement of said stem, and means mounted on said tong members for maintaining said tong members in open relation when said members are in lowered position to receive a bar of soap.

2. A. soap container and dispenser comprising in combination an elongated vertically disposed housing closed at its upper end and having a relatively large opening at its lower end and a slot in one side extending upwardly from the lower end and terminating some distance therefrom, a support depending from the upper end of said housing, a stem telescopically mounted in said support, a handle member secured to the lower end of said stem and projecting outwardly through said slot and normally engaging the upper end thereof to limit the upward movement of said telescoping stem, a pair of tong members pivot'ally connected to said stem, said tong members having their lower ends pointed and projecting inwardly toward each other and their upper ends projecting outwardly and engaged by spring means carried bysaidhousing tending to 7 hold said tong members in normally closed position, means carried by said housing to force said tong members to open position upon downward movement of said stem, means carried by said tong members for maintaining said tongs in open position, said means carried by said tong members being capable of release by forcible contact with a bar of soap to permit the closing of said tong members to grip said bar of soap.

3. In a device of the class described a vertically disposed housing having an opening in its lower end, a telescopic tong support depending from the upper end of said housing, a handle secured to the lower end of said support and projecting through a slot in the side of said housing, a pair of tong memberspivotally connected to said support, said tong members having their lower ends pointed and projecting inwardly toward each other, an elongated coil spring connected to the opposite end of each tong member and attached to the upper end of said housing, a bar pivotally connected at one end to the lower end of one tong member, a slot in the other end of said bar, said slot terminating at each end within said bar and being L-shaped at its outer end, a pin in the other tong member in slidable engagement with said slot and adapted to slide into the L-shaped portion thereof to lock said tong members in open position, and latch members mounted on the sides of said housing to engage notches in the outer edges of said tong members to limit downward movement of said tong members, means on said latch members for limiting upward movement of said tong members while said tong members are in locked open position.

4. In a device of the class described, a vertically disposed housing having an opening in its lower end, a pair of tong members suspended in said housing, notches in the outer edge of said tong members, a latch member secured to said housing on each side of said respective tong members to engage the notches in said tong members to limit downward movement of said members, and a slotted bar pivoted at one end to one tong member and having a pin in the other tong member in slidable engagement with said bar to hold said tong members in open position.

5. In a device of the class described, a vertically disposed housing having an opening in its lower end and a pair of tong members suspended by elongated coil springs from the upper end of said housing, said tong members having notches in the outer edges of the gripping portions thereof, a latch member hingedly secured to the wall of said housing at each side of said respective tong members, said latch members being normally held by spring means in a substantially horizontal position, and adapted upon downward movement of said tong members to engage said notches and thus limit downward movement of said tong members.

J. WARREN BROOKSHIER. 

